Sri Lanka green energy project gets 30 million euros French loan

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka will get 30 million euros from France for a project to cut transmission losses at state utility Ceylon Electricity Board, and lower the island’s dependence on fossil fuels for electricity generation, the Ministry of Finance said.

This is part of a 260 million US dollar project – Green Power Development and Energy Efficiency Improvement Investment Programme – to improve energy savings by upgrading the island’s transmission infrastructure with a smart electricity grid and smart metering.

“Ceylon Electricity Board has an ambitious capital investment plan for the next ten years to maintain 100 percent electrification while improving supply quality and reliability,” a Ministry of Finance statement said Thursday.

“While ensuring a continuous supply of electricity, managing a strategic balance between indigenous energy resources and imported fossil fuels and coal is a major challenge faced by Sri Lanka’s power sector,” it said.

The French loan will go into implementing the second phase of the project.

The project has already received 150 million US dollars from Asian Development Bank with French Agency for Development providing 22 million Euros for the first phase.

The CEB will bear the remaining cost.

A credit facility agreement for the French loan was signed Wednesday. (Colombo, 18 October 2018)